The Federal Fire Service (FFS) has called on state governments to complement the efforts of firefighters at all state level.
Mrs Ugo Huan, FFS, Public Relations Officer (PRO), made the call on Saturday while reacting to aggressive mob actions at the Service command in Kogi State following the recent multiple fire incidents in the state.
On Sept. 23 there was a petrol tanker auto-crash in Kogi state which killed no fewer than 23 people.
Also, on Sept.25 there was another fire outbreak at an electronic shop called Pee Link Electro World Ltd in Lokoja.
Huan said that the presence and deployment of fire trucks and firefighters in states was to complement the efforts of State fire Service and not solely the responsibility of the Federal Government.
According to Huan, the inability of the state fire service to respond to the two most recent fire incidents in the state was due to the bad condition of the state fire fighting trucks.
“The FFS had deployed a modern fire truck to Kogi state last year to complement the efforts of the Kogi State Fire Service as it had done in other States of the Federation.
“But unfortunately this year, the vehicle had an accident while turning out to the scene of a fallen tanker within the State.
“The accident led to the destruction of some parts of the truck which has affected our responses to fire incidents in the State recently.
“The truck which at the moment is under repairs with the contractor will soon be fixed and returned to State,” she said.
She, however, said that the Controller General of the Service, Mr Ibrahim Liman, has contacted the Kogi State government to help improve their State Fire Service.
“The CG has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Fire Service in the safety of lives and property,” he said.
